![Last week, a group of friends and I organized a medical team to help the wounded and injured in the streets. As we sewed up gashes and patched up wounds on the beautiful battered faces of our dear Iranians, we kept asking ourselves, “What have they become? Have they no regard for the life for a fellow human being? For the life of a fellow countryman? For the life of a neighbor? For the life of a cousin? For the life of a brother? For the life of a sister?”
It wasn’t long before Basij militiamen took away our identity cards. After reporting us to the university, I was called in by a disciplinary committee and reprimanded. I was told I had put my future career and even my life in jeopardy. I was told to think about the consequences of my actions.
As I left the committee members, the events of the past two weeks fell into place:
The government had a plan. They thought their plan was perfect. They had devised a perfect fraud in which regardless of how people voted, only one name would emerge as the winner: Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
It was to be the start of an era of unopposed rule.
By creating the appearance of a free and open atmosphere, by creating hope of change, people would turnout in high numbers. A high turnout at the ballot boxes would give them an aura of legitimacy in the eyes of the world. It would give Ahmadinejad a mandate.
But they made a fatal miscalculation; they underestimated the people.
When the results were announced, nobody in their right mind believed them. Even the most optimistic of Ahmadinejad supporters didn’t believe he could win by such a margin.
This prompted widespread unrest. For the first time in the history of the Islamic Republic the ruling establishment had to contend with masses in the streets. These masses had not been dragged there by intimidation or by promise of a reward. For the first time the masses were not chanting pro-government slogans.
This was something entirely new; it was a nation rising up in defiance of all the tricks the government has been pulling over the years.
Despite their miscalculation, the supreme leader and the revolutionary guard elites were not ready to make any concessions; they knew too well. Even a single step back would have been a starting point from where things would cascade down to the eventual breakdown of their perfect autocracy.
So they took a firm stand against the very people who had brought them to power 30 years ago. History will be the judge but I believe that this was their second and most fatal miscalculation. You can never put out a fire by beating it, the flames may wane but underneath the ashes will go on burning. Wheels have been set in motion. A vast movement has started to take place. In time, the tide will turn.
In February 1979, during the time of the revolution, the army chiefs decided to prevent bloodshed and a civil war, so they refused to crack down on the demonstrators. They were thanked for this by swift executions that took place as soon as the revolutionaries came to power.
Sepah, or the Revolutionary Guard, is apparently determined not to go down the same path.
The decision of the current government to brutally crack down on the protesters and demonstrators led to the massacre of June 20, 2009, a day that will go down in history as the Black Saturday of the Islamic Republic. Thirty years ago, 17 Shahrivar 1357 [September 8, 1978], the Pahlavi Regime made the same fatal mistake. That Black Friday was the turning point from which the Pahlavi Regime never recovered.
We had hoped for a swift and decisive victory, first in the election and then through our defiance, but our high hopes were crushed with bullets, batons and tear gas. Now the mood is that of defeat, anguish and despair.
Fear has crept in and taken hold. Everybody now speaks in whispers. We are depressed and hopeless. Perhaps the main reason everyone feels so down is that before the election we had such high hopes. We flew too high and then fell down or rather were brought down by Basij and anti-riot police.
This struggle has had its toll on us all. I have never seen so many people grieving. This is a social malaise. At the personal level, each of us still feels robbed of our vote, our freedom, our friends, our brothers and our sisters.
We are disillusioned, battered and betrayed. Many are talking about leaving the country. Many young souls are looking for the first exit. Emigration perhaps. A mass exodus may be under way.
In the past few days, I have been feeling down and depressed. I had a sense that all was lost, and the frequent rains, which are extremely unusual for this time of year, added to the sense of melancholy overcoming me. My uncle, who experienced the revolution, told me however, “Evolution takes time. This was just a start; in time things will change.”
I hope so.
Politics and power are dirty things, much more so than depicted by Romain Gary in “L’Homme a la colombe.” Even so, the protagonist, also a young soul, emerges victorious. We are sacrificing ourselves to make a statement, which the corrupt politicians ignore and the mass media manipulates. But people, generation after generation, pass this on from heart to heart as a slogan for integrity, bravery and freedom.
Maybe this will be our legacy. Maybe years from now, we will recount the stories of these days to the generation after us as the turning point that made all the difference, if not in our lives, perhaps at least in theirs.
(via Tehran Bureau)](http://25.media.tumblr.com/BrfABOHHEp5n9oeb6eP4Hl9to1_400.jpg)
Last week, a group of friends and I organized a medical team to help the wounded and injured in the streets. As we sewed up gashes and patched up wounds on the beautiful battered faces of our dear Iranians, we kept asking ourselves, “What have they become? Have they no regard for the life for a fellow human being? For the life of a fellow countryman? For the life of a neighbor? For the life of a cousin? For the life of a brother? For the life of a sister?”
It wasn’t long before Basij militiamen took away our identity cards. After reporting us to the university, I was called in by a disciplinary committee and reprimanded. I was told I had put my future career and even my life in jeopardy. I was told to think about the consequences of my actions.
As I left the committee members, the events of the past two weeks fell into place:
The government had a plan. They thought their plan was perfect. They had devised a perfect fraud in which regardless of how people voted, only one name would emerge as the winner: Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
It was to be the start of an era of unopposed rule.
By creating the appearance of a free and open atmosphere, by creating hope of change, people would turnout in high numbers. A high turnout at the ballot boxes would give them an aura of legitimacy in the eyes of the world. It would give Ahmadinejad a mandate.
But they made a fatal miscalculation; they underestimated the people.
When the results were announced, nobody in their right mind believed them. Even the most optimistic of Ahmadinejad supporters didn’t believe he could win by such a margin.
This prompted widespread unrest. For the first time in the history of the Islamic Republic the ruling establishment had to contend with masses in the streets. These masses had not been dragged there by intimidation or by promise of a reward. For the first time the masses were not chanting pro-government slogans.
This was something entirely new; it was a nation rising up in defiance of all the tricks the government has been pulling over the years.
Despite their miscalculation, the supreme leader and the revolutionary guard elites were not ready to make any concessions; they knew too well. Even a single step back would have been a starting point from where things would cascade down to the eventual breakdown of their perfect autocracy.
So they took a firm stand against the very people who had brought them to power 30 years ago. History will be the judge but I believe that this was their second and most fatal miscalculation. You can never put out a fire by beating it, the flames may wane but underneath the ashes will go on burning. Wheels have been set in motion. A vast movement has started to take place. In time, the tide will turn.
In February 1979, during the time of the revolution, the army chiefs decided to prevent bloodshed and a civil war, so they refused to crack down on the demonstrators. They were thanked for this by swift executions that took place as soon as the revolutionaries came to power.
Sepah, or the Revolutionary Guard, is apparently determined not to go down the same path.
The decision of the current government to brutally crack down on the protesters and demonstrators led to the massacre of June 20, 2009, a day that will go down in history as the Black Saturday of the Islamic Republic. Thirty years ago, 17 Shahrivar 1357 [September 8, 1978], the Pahlavi Regime made the same fatal mistake. That Black Friday was the turning point from which the Pahlavi Regime never recovered.
We had hoped for a swift and decisive victory, first in the election and then through our defiance, but our high hopes were crushed with bullets, batons and tear gas. Now the mood is that of defeat, anguish and despair.
Fear has crept in and taken hold. Everybody now speaks in whispers. We are depressed and hopeless. Perhaps the main reason everyone feels so down is that before the election we had such high hopes. We flew too high and then fell down or rather were brought down by Basij and anti-riot police.
This struggle has had its toll on us all. I have never seen so many people grieving. This is a social malaise. At the personal level, each of us still feels robbed of our vote, our freedom, our friends, our brothers and our sisters.
We are disillusioned, battered and betrayed. Many are talking about leaving the country. Many young souls are looking for the first exit. Emigration perhaps. A mass exodus may be under way.
In the past few days, I have been feeling down and depressed. I had a sense that all was lost, and the frequent rains, which are extremely unusual for this time of year, added to the sense of melancholy overcoming me. My uncle, who experienced the revolution, told me however, “Evolution takes time. This was just a start; in time things will change.”
I hope so.
Politics and power are dirty things, much more so than depicted by Romain Gary in “L’Homme a la colombe.” Even so, the protagonist, also a young soul, emerges victorious. We are sacrificing ourselves to make a statement, which the corrupt politicians ignore and the mass media manipulates. But people, generation after generation, pass this on from heart to heart as a slogan for integrity, bravery and freedom.
Maybe this will be our legacy. Maybe years from now, we will recount the stories of these days to the generation after us as the turning point that made all the difference, if not in our lives, perhaps at least in theirs.
(via Tehran Bureau)
-tweet from Iran
no updates will be made to this blog for the next 12 hours, but we aren’t going away. Check back tomorrow.
>Conflict at Baharestan Sq.Even police attack pedestrian by tear gas.
> The Islamic Republic of Iran does not allow under any circustances any form of mourning ceremony for NEDA AGHA SOLTAN
>The streets, squares and around BAHARESTAN (Approx. South-eastern of Tehran) is swarming with military forces, civilian forces, the security motorists
>Baharestan sq and surrounding streets are filled with force police and motorcyclist plain clothes(Basijis)
>Today, as there are demonstrations and gatherings in central areas of Tehran, people’s mobiles are being controlled in order to find pictures and videos of current violations
>In Baharestan Sq. in the Police shooting, A girl is shot and the police is not allowing to let them help
>Cell network down in Baharestan & nearby area
>Conflict still in Baharestan Sq they even people who talk with their cellphone
>The girl who was shot was taken to a private clinic, not known yet of her well being…alive or not?
>People gathered in Baharestan but police & plain cloths don’t let the core of the rally to form
>All shops and Passages are closed at Baharestan SQ, Gunshot being heard from Jomhori St
> Gunshot being heard at Baharestan Sq.
>About 5,000 Protesters gatherd at Sadeghieh Sq, Bassij and Hezbollah attcking them
>Hezbollah Attcked to some people trying to gather at Tajrish Sq
>Army Helycopters flying over Enghelab Sq. Army Vans moving toward Azadi St with heavy Machine Guns.
>Hezbollah Attcked to some people trying to gather at Tajrish Sq.
>Protesters gatherd at Sepah Sq
>Heavy conflict between protestors and special guards at Sa’adi cinema intersection
>Jomhuri Street peak of conflicts… protestors crowd of Hafez St arrived to Jomhuri St and gathered together.
>At Baharestan Sq plain clothes are between people and whoever talks they arrest him/her
>We saw 7/8 militia beating one woman with baton on ground - she had no defense nothing
>So many people arrested - young & old
>Some unrest at Naderi intersection reported from Ahvaz
>Protesters in Jomhuri St make police and Suppression forces retreat
>The croud have moved to the south of baharestan, the situation is bad, the shooting has started
>Vanak, tajrish and enghelab square are in very bad situations, the basij and riot police are paced every 10 feet and they react quickly to any stoppage and arrest right on the spot
> Fighting in Vanak Sq, Tajrish sq, Azadi Sq - now
>In Baharestan we saw militia with axe choping people like meat - blood everywhere - like butcher
>About 10 special forces vans are manoeuvring in Sharak-e-Gharb
>Lalezar Sq is same as Baharestan
>Militias and plain cloths acts as they will do any thing to suppress ppl gatherings under any under any circumstances,even if they have to kill ppl to do that !
>The military plain clothes have entered the crowd with high speed on bikes, they are beating people with cable and batons, almost everyone in the crowd is injured, there is blood everywhere!
>Islamic republic in Iran are trying to put a cap on their recent crimes, and are trying not to give any documents to the UN and human rights groups,They have ordered the general hospitals not to confirm the shot guns or baton injuries by Revolutionary Guards & basij militia!
>Gunshots Being Heard From Aazadi St.
>Political prisoners and jurnalists were taken to critical condition in 209 Evin, washington times’s jurnalist was arrest!
>The central Tehran is still Inflamed and militia nad plain clothes and motorcylist are all over the city,almost in every street . Medical centres are full of todays’s injured people.
>1 shotdead and more than 20 injured at Baharestan SQ.
>Clashes at Sadeghie SQ continuing for more than 5 hrs
>More than 10 family members of detainess arrested in front of Rev. Court, Security forces crack down Protest.
(via revolutionary road)
[Translated] I access Facebook through Yahoo! Mexico. But everyone says that’s a trap set by authorities to identify us!!!!!
[X] quarrels with me all the time. He keeps imploring me not to go on the internet. They even say the phones are monitored!!!
I’m so frightened I changed my [online] name today.
I don’t know why. Other than vote for Mousavi I’ve never engaged in a political activity in my entire life. But this is no comfort because [X]’s poor colleague was shot in the eye with a rubber bullet while driving through Vanak Square. After two operations, he’s blind in one eye!!!!!!!!
They picked up someone else too. Two days after his disappearance they released him near Shahreh Rey with his eyes blindfolded and his mouth gagged.
Neither guy attended demonstrations! Plus, they say those who come to these protests are MKO members [terrorists]!!!!! Not to mention 100 other insults!
What had this poor woman Neda done that they wouldn’t allow any mosque to hold ceremonies for her — come on, wasn’t she Muslim?
Anyway, things here are REALLY bad here. We’re all scared to death.
Something has to change. We can’t go living like this.
— Tehran resident, 23 June 2009
-via @Dr_Ahmadinejad’s newly-minted Twitter
Seriously? Man these guys are deluded. Somehow a lone Israeli infiltrated the country undetected, bought or acquired a gun, picked out a young Iranian girl, asassinated her, and was caught by heroic Iranian police?
At least try to make your propoganda plausible…
Those of you with twitter, please tweet this URL (http://bit.ly/GFACm) to whoever you can. This site needs to be taken offline immediately before any of these protesters are identified.
Spread the word. Keep the revolution alive.
”